Walk & Talk Park Therapy

There’s some part of your life where you feel stuck or lost right now and you’ve wondered if it’s time to seek help from a mental health professional. But you aren’t sure traditional therapy in a counseling office feels right for you right now. Yet, you value seeing someone in person so you’re not ready to try online therapy.

Who Benefits from Walk & Talk Therapy?

The truth is that a lot of different types of people benefit from Walk & Talk therapy. Some of the people who really benefit from Walk & Talk Therapy include:

• Teens that just don’t like staring someone while they talk

• Busy professionals who are able to meet a therapist at a park near their work (but a place not likely frequented by coworkers) on a lunch hour.

• People with depression that lack the motivation to get up move on their own.

• People who find nature to be very healing and may feel more comfortable outside.

• Anyone who may have anxiety or fears that can be faced with an outdoor session.

Walk and Talk Therapy is Different

Walk and Talk Therapy is a bit different from traditional in person counseling sessions or online sessions. Some of the benefits of being able to connect in person are similar to meeting in a traditional counseling office. However, sometimes clients who are intimidated by the traditional counseling office find it easier to connect with a therapist when they’re just going for a walk in the park together.

Since Aspire Counseling opened in 2017, our therapists have sometimes taken sessions outside. Why? Because there is just something about being out in the fresh air that can make opening up a little bit easier. And some clients find it easier to open up while walking side by side with a therapist versus sitting across the room. When Covid-19 took our country by storm, many of our first in person sessions to resume happened outside at a park or church. And again, we found outdoor counseling sessions to be incredibly powerful.

Some Precautions

It’s important for us to acknowledge that there are some inherent dangers associated with walk and talk therapy. Before your first session, we’ll ask you to look over and sign an informational sheet saying you understand some of these pros and cons. Perhaps the most obvious negative is that it’s less private. There is always a chance someone may see you crying or you could even run into someone you know. For this reason, we recommend talking to your therapist ahead of time about how you will handle things if you or your therapist are approached by someone one of you knows.

Other potential negatives are the common risks associated with exercise. You could twist an ankle while walking, get hot/cold, be stung by a bee, etc.

Where Will We Meet?

This is really a decision for you and your therapist to make together. Your therapist may have very limited options for times, days and locations they can meet for outdoor sessions. For example, in the middle of the summer your therapist may prefer to do all of their sessions when it’s cooler outside such as earlier in the morning or evening. Or some therapists may prefer to schedule Walk & Talk sessions for the start or end of their day so they spend less time traveling between sessions.

Walk and Talk Therapy Can Help

It’s possible to live a better life. Right now, it’s hard to believe things can be different. But, we challenge you to use your imagination for a moment. Imagine living a life where you...

• Really feel good.

• Control how you respond to negative thoughts.

• Shift into a more positive and hopeful outlook on life.

• Get to the root problems and feel like you have the coping skills to solve them.

• Grasp hold of your life instead of depression weighing you down.

Our therapists want this life for you. And many of our therapists are able to offer counseling sessions outside to give you a little bit different option than you’ve tried before.

What is standing in the way of getting started

I’m too busy to come to counseling.

Life is busy. We get it. Our lives are busy too. But if you don’t take care of yourself, who will? Here’s the thing. Your mental health, your life, your happiness. They’re worth it. 

And, that’s the great thing about Walk & Talk Therapy. You can get in both exercise AND mental health support in one fell swoop.

What if we run into someone I know?

This is a great question! Because the simple truth is that Walk & Talk Therapy doesn’t have the same level of privacy that meeting in our office or through secure online counseling does. But you and your therapist will discuss this ahead of time so you have a plan. Honestly, we’ve been surprised how rarely this has come up. But it IS a possibility. So, you and your therapist will decide ahead of time what to do if that happens. But know that the bottom line is we will always, always respect your privacy.

I’m so depressed it’s hard to find the motivation to exercise. Why would I want to during my counseling session?

You feel hopeless right now. Maybe you’ve even tried other things and they haven’t worked. Perhaps, you’ve seen other counselors, read self help books or listened to motivational speeches. Yet, here you are feeling depressed.

Walk and Talk therapy is particularly great for depression. “Behavioral Activation” is an evidence based approach to treating depression. Getting yourself out to go for a walk can play a role in this. And, you may be much more likely to go for that walk if it’s scheduled during your therapy session with the added accountability of your therapist there with you.

What if I cry?

First of all, if you’d like, efforts can be made to avoid having you cry in public. We know some of our clients may find this uncomfortable. For example, a session where you plan to go into really deep things can be held over telehealth or at the office. Secondly, if we’re walking at the park and things become intense you can ask to stop and your therapist can help you find a place to sit that might be less obvious to others if you start to cry.

That said, if you do end up crying at the park you won’t be the first one to do so…you’ll just have the support of a therapist in the moment whereas if you were walking in the park with a friend instead you wouldn’t. Your therapist can help you sit with that discomfort and move through the difficult moment.

What parts of Missouri Can You Meet at the Park?

Through online counseling, our therapists are able to meet people anywhere in the state. However, we’re only able to offer Walk & Talk sessions in locations that are easy to access from where our clinicians live. Right now, this means we’re able to offer Walk & Talk therapy in Columbia, the Kansas City Area (particularly in the Blue Springs area), and near Franklin County. So, if you would be able to travel to any of those locations for counseling sessions, Walk & Talk would be an option for you.

So what are you waiting for?

When you are ready to start counseling, we’re here to help.

At Aspire Counseling, our intake team takes the time to try to pair you with the right therapist the first time. But we also offer a free consultation so you can ask questions before you even start. We want to make sure you have the best possible chance of getting better and that begins with finding someone who will be a good fit.